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Updated on
June 14, 2010,
J.C.
asks from Arlington, TX
on
June 13, 2010

Hat Party for Women Going Through Chemo

I want to plan a "Hat Party" for a friend of mine wh was recently diagnosed with lymphoma she is only 23, newly married and recently had a baby. She is in her first month of chemo and has started losing her hair. I think a "Hat Party" would be a fun way to get her closest friends and family together and bring her cute hats. But I also want to play fun games or activities and relate it to her cancer. Have fun and poke fun of her cancer not let it ruin the night or totally ignore it by dancing around the subject. She is in really good spirits and is really open too, I do not believe she would be embarrassed by this at all. I just would like some tips or ideas for the party!

I don't have ideas, I just want to commend you on being such a good friend and being so thoughtful.

I am sure your friend would appreciate whatever you do.

We had a bunco friend go through breast cancer about 4 yrs ago and we made sure she had magazines (all the gossipy ones), nice little treats, dinner was delivered almost every night, especially on Chemo days, and we arranged for house cleaners and lawn service.

Your awesome, I just turned 30 in January and was diagnosed with breast cancer on 4/29 (3 years to the day my dad passed away from pancreatic cancer) I am starting chemo on 6/25, just had my port put in on friday, I also have a 3 1/2 year old son and I just wanted to let you know you are seem like a great friend!!

My co-workers gave me a gift card for a website called www.headcovers.com and they have some beautiful headcovers in all kinds of colors and designs!!

When my cousin was battling breast cancer we had a family dinner for her and gave her scarves, a jar with notes, thoughts, jokes for her to read daily, and there is a book about dealing with cancer instead of cleaning out the garage. I don't remember the name of it, but she loved it. One cousin gave us a pin with the letter "B" for Beverly (her name) and every time she had a treatment we wore it to let her know she was in our thoughts and prayers especially that day.

I am a breast cancer patient going through chemo right now and I think it's great that you're throwing your friend this party. I have 2 treatments left and I'm hoping someone thinks to throw me some kind of humongous party when I'm done!! :-)

As for games, I was thinking you might play some sort of Bingo or Twister game with cancer terms on it like hair loss, chemo, nausia, fatigue, bald and beautiful, remission, etc. Twister would be especially fun...I mean, who doesn't love a good game of Twister! You could make the "mat" out of a tarp and paint the spaces on there and then just put the matching terms on pieces of paper in a hat and have the caller call out the next thing they have to put their hands/feet on. You could also just make Bingo cards and do the same thing.

For another game, you could print out some pictures of bald people or a bald person on Google images and cut out some small paper hats and have everyone decorate a hat and play "pin the hat on the baldie" or something like that. Then, she could keep everyone's decorated hats and put them up somewhere to remind her of her fun party.

I will say a prayer for your friend. I know, personally, how hard it is to go through chemo with small children are at home (mine were 18 months and 3 yrs. when I was diagnosed....4 and 2 now). It sounds like she has some great support though and that is so important! Thanks for posting this. It was fun to think of these games. If you don't mind, can you write me a private message after the party and let me know what you ended up playing and how it went? Not to be nosey, but just so that I know for future reference so I can pass ideas along to others. Thanks and have fun!

I agree with the other posts, sorry I can't come up with party ideas, but the hat party is fabulous! My mom is a cancer survivor and was given a hat party which was so much fun and brightened her spirits.

I think that sounds like one of the most loving things a person could do for a young woman with cancer. You might even have a Best Hat contest and award a small token prize to the winner. Good luck and best wishes to your friend. I will keep her in my prayers. I know that the different forms of cancer have colors - Breast cancer - pink, etc. Might find out what color and use that in your color scheme.

Here are a few sites that may be helpful. If your husband is friends with her husband maybe yall could plan something to get him involved or at least give him a project to focus on. I know men hate to feel helpless. This has got to be so hard for him.

I have attended one of these parties and our friend really appreciated it. Mimi's Wig Boutique in Dallas/Richardson is a great place to go to. Baseball caps I was told, were not good, because they don't cover the back of the head/neck. We also told her not send any thank you notes because she'd have enough to deal with. Then while she was going through chemo, we set up a Care Calendar (http://www.carecalendar.org/) for meals for her family. She had a cooler set out on her porch and we just put the food in there so she wouldn't have to answer the door. I wish you & your friend all the best.

When I was in college, we would have random, unplanned "hat" parties in the dorm in which everyone had to come with something on her head, but it couldn't really be a hat. Everyone would grab something silly, and we had a blast laughing at each other's creative "hats"! I still have a picture of myself with a black bra on my head that looked like Mickey Mouse ears! You could have the guests bring her a hat to keep, and wear something on their own heads like a hat that isn't really a hat.